Extrajudicial killings

SRI LANKA: Alleged extrajudicial killings of two men by the police on the pretext of “crossfire”

SRI LANKA: Extrajudicial killings; violation of the right to life; impunity; dysfunction of criminal justice system ———————————– Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that two men who surrendered to the Magistrate’s Court of Galle were taken into custody by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) of Galle from the court premises […]

UPDATE (Philippines): Court orders arrest of a military sergeant and his accomplices on the charges of homicide

[RE: UA-72-2005: PHILIPPINES: Prosecutor’s inaction to file murder charges against military officers who killed two people; UP-130-2006: PHILIPPINES: Court judge delays issuance of arrest warrants to military men charged with murder; UP-211-2006: PHILIPPINES: Replacement of a prosecutor required; complaint filed against a judge for grave abuse, violation of code of conduct] ————————————- PHILIPPINES: Extra-judicial killings; […]

UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Urgent protection needed for a key eye witness of a custodial death case

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is calling for your urgent intervention to provide immediate protection to a witness of a custodial death case, who is receiving death threats in Sri Lanka. He is the key eye witness of the custodial death of Mr. Hettiarachchige Abeysiri, 52, who was tortured to death by […]

UPDATE (Philippines): Eight falsely charged farmers acquitted; murder charges filed against several military men, police officer and others

[RE: UA-216-2005: PHILIPPINES: Soldiers kill nine farmers in Leyte, Visayas; UP-141-2005: PHILIPPINES: Peasants were brutally massacred by soldiers; pregnant woman among the dead; UP-019-2006: PHILIPPINES: Possible irregularities in police investigation; survivor details brutal killings of peasants; UP-053-2006: PHILIPPINES: Commission on Human Rights (CHR) set to file charges against soldiers allegedly involved in killing peasants in […]

ASIA: Extrajudicial killings, disappearances, torture and other forms of gross human rights violations still engulf Asia’s nations

In addition to the general statement issued by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) for International Human Rights Day on December 10, we are also making the brief comments below on the human rights situation in several Asian countries. A more comprehensive report will be available soon. Sri Lanka The most violent place in Asia […]

BANGLADESH: A man allegedly beaten to death by the Nabiganj police in Habiganj district

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) was informed that a man was allegedly beaten to death by the Nabiganj police in Habiganj district on 25 November 2006. After the police allegedly beat the driver of the commandeered private pickup van, the perpetrators left his dead body along a roadside ditch. No murder charges […]

PHILIPPINES: Delays in prosecution causes prolonged detention of two farmers

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you about the prolonged detention of two farmers in Davao Oriental province, the Philippines. Both of them have been detained for almost three years without any progress in their case because the prosecution witnesses failed to appear in court on six occasions. One of […]

PHILIPPINES: Fact finding report on attacks against lawyers and judges

Dutch and Belgian Lawyers organizations were alarmed by the reports and statements of international and Filipino human rights organizations and various news items about the violence against members of the legal profession in the Philippines. Lawyers and judges are reportedly victims of serious harassment and intimidation while in the exercise of their profession or brutally […]

PHILIPPINES: Three more activists killed; four other persons disappeared in separate incidents

PHILIPPINES: Extra-judicial killings, violence against activist; a need for impartial and independent investigation; enforced and involuntary disappearance; torture; collapse of rule of lawTo support this appeal, please click: ————————————- Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that three more activists were brutally killed while four other persons disappeared in […]

UPDATE (Philippines): Replacement of a prosecutor required; complaint filed against a judge for grave abuse, violation of code of conduct

[NOTICE: The AHRC have developed a new automatic letter-sending system using the “button” below. However, in this appeal, we could not include e-mail addresses of some of the Philippine authorities. We encourage you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to those people. Fax numbers and postal addresses of the Philippine authorities are […]

PHILIPPINES: Another activist in “liquidation list” killed; two others survive attempts on their lives in separate incidents

PHILIPPINES: Extra-judicial killings, violence against activist; impartial and independent investigation; alleged involvement by military in killings; collapse of rule of law ————————————- Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that another activist was killed while two other religious workers survived attempts on their lives in separate incidents on November […]

NEPAL: Extra-judicial killing of 32-year-old Bacha Ram Chaudari by the police

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information concerning the alleged extra-judicial killing of 32-year-old carpenter Bacha Ram Chaudari, a permanent resident of Rayapur Village Development Committee (VDC)-9, Rayapur, Saptari District, Nepal. Bacha Ram Chaudari was reportedly shot dead by police junior Ram Abatar Yadav of Area Police Station Rupani, Saptari on […]

THAILAND: UN role needed to ensure that killers of human rights lawyer successfully prosecuted & tried

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 3, 2006 AHRC-OL-061-2006 An Open Letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights by the Asian Human Rights Commission Louise Arbour High Commissioner UN High Commission on Human Rights OHCHR-UNOG 8-14 Avenue de la Paix 1211 Geneva 10 SWITZERLAND Fax:  +41 22 917-9006 Dear Ms. Arbour THAILAND: UN role needed […]

INDONESIA: Local farmer brutally gunned down by brigadier officers in Central Java

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the tragic murder of Mr. Marino, a 38 year old farmer, by brigadier officers of the Sukoharjo Mobile Police Unit on 20 October 2006, at the home of his parents-in-law in the Sukoharjo district in the Surakarta region of Central Java. On the […]

THAILAND: Problems of Tak Bai are the problems of Thailand

In March 2005, the then-army commander in Thailand, General Pravit Wongsuwan, was asked what disciplinary action would be taken against three generals found liable for the death of 84 innocent civilians on 25 October 2004, six outside the Tak Bai District Police Station and 78 in army trucks that transported over one thousand demonstrators and […]

BANGLADESH: Alleged extrajudicial killings of two more persons in the pretext of “crossfire” by the Rapid Action Battalion

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that two more persons were killed in the name of ‘crossfire’ by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Khulna on 1 September 2006, after being arbitrarily arrested from their respective houses. The RAB-6 Commanding Officer claimed that the two persons were involved in extortion […]

CAMBODIA: Man allegedly shot dead after being tortured by police

[NOTICE: The AHRC have developed a new automatic letter-sending system using the “button” below. However, in this appeal, we could not include e-mail addresses of some of the Cambodian authorities. We encourage you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to those people. Fax numbers and postal addresses of the Cambodian authorities are attached below […]

PHILIPPINES: Witnesses and victims of extrajudicial killings and torture deserve protection and compensation too

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) commends the efforts of Department of Justice (DoJ) Secretary Raul Gonzalez to issue immediate orders to “provide security” to the witnesses who could identify the perpetrators of the bombings on Mindanao on October 10 and to “facilitate the release of funds for compensation” to the affected victims; for after […]

PHILIPPINES: Another IFI priest brutally murdered

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that another priest of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) or the Philippine Independent Church, Fr. Dionisio Ging-Ging (53), was brutally murdered in Barangay Bajao, Tago, Surigao del Sur on 8 October 2006. According to our sources, three suspects, hooded with bonnets or […]

PHILIPPINES: Killing of a bishop and further threats to others expose a failure of the country’s protection mechanism

After Bishop Alberto Ramento of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), or  Philippine Independent Church, was killed on October 3, police investigators were quick to declare his death as a case of robbery and homicide. Two days later the Philippine National Police (PNP) pronounced Bishop Ramento’s case “solved” following the arrest of four alleged suspects in […]